The present invention relates to a detector for detecting invisible radiation and charged particles.
It is known that if light is irradiated laterally into an optical waveguide containing fluorescent dyestuffs, fluorescent radiation is produced which can be conducted to the end faces of the optical waveguide by total reflection (cf. Tanaka et. al., SPIE, vol. 840, "Fiber Optic Systems for Mobile Platforms", page 19).
It is further known that polymer optical waveguides doped with a scintillating compound can be used to detect .gamma.-radiation and charged particles (cf. H. Blumenfeld et. al., Nucl. Instr. Meth. A257 (1987), 603). A disadvantage of this method, however, is that the sensitive surface is restricted to geometries which can be produced from such fibers. Thus, it is not readily possible, for example, to achieve the frequently used, circular, sensitive surface.
It has also already been proposed to produce a light detector from a plate-like light-absorbing body and at least one optical waveguide connected thereto (cf. German Patent application Ser. No. 3,832,803 or equivalent U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,530.